To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards of men.
– Abraham Lincoln
Since 2008, Saint Lucia has been engulfed in a tailspin of harsh economic times, limiting direct investment and unleashing a focus on politics rather than on economics. All this time—2008—discourse has been limited to the rhetoric of the political parties, wrapped in red or yellow. In a country that pridefully claims it fought for its Independence, there appears to be no obvious appreciation of the independent thinker. That is to say, the critical thinker who wishes to debate, even discuss, solutions while staying clear of partisan politics. There appears to be no room here for apolitical would-be contributors who refuse to play by the restricting rules of partisan politics; who refuse to buy into the stultifying notion that the party is everything.
The independent thinker is besieged on all sides by the party faithful. He or she dare not offer a word of advice without the risk of being smeared, ridiculed, even threatened. The damage increases as we focus on the politics of every issue rather than on the economic challenges and and feasible solutions. No issue is left free of political contamination: crime, education, foreign direct investment, tourism, agriculture—even cultural activities must now be painted red or yellow.
How shocking that this is how we deal with the most critical issues of our time. There can be no discourse without someone bringing up the possible impact on elections. There will be a price to pay for such madness. We are already paying, whether or not we are willing to acknowledge this truth.
Those of us who pride ourselves on being independent thinkers, for the sake of our present and future must stand up now and shout: “Enough, we can have no more of this insanity!” We must demand that our voices be heard. Starting today, this minute, we must face the harsh reality that partisan politics is killing what chances our country has of moving out of the swamp that now threatens us all: thinkers as well as the sheep among us.
We must as a nation be willing to embrace independent thinkers who, admittedly, are not always right. We pretend to celebrate them; we hear them. But do we really permit ourselves to listen to what they are saying? Do we allow ourselves to fully grasp what they write or have written? I’m referring to such as Sir Arthur Lewis, Derek Walcott, Rick Wayne, Harold Simmons. I could include others. Let us awaken from this self-imposed deadly silence; let us decide now no longer to be shameful and shameless cowards. Let us encourage in our fellow citizens that independence of the spirit, independence of thought, so that we can create new strategies and policies for dealing with our daunting present that’s destined to grow much worse unless we confront it. Together!
(article first published on 09 January 2016)
Thank you Mr. Didier. On Saturday 7th January, my bredren and I undertook a Public Service Announcement around the Soufriere Town to bring to our people the awareness of the importance of Local Government and to ask them to reclaim their fundamental tights to participate in their governance. The democracy demands it. Your article here really supports our initiative. We felt we had to something because partisan politics is stifling progress. The politicians are stripping us of all avenues where we used to engaged therefore we have to create alternatives to discuss and advocate.